Thursday, July 24, 2008

Bush-One last swipe at the Right to Choose

Ok, this REALLY needs to make the radar folks. There is so much to write on, I almost forgot. Thankfully, othersdidn't.

If your medical clinic receives federal funds, they can hire a doctor who can refuse to give you birth control in any form. Guess what kind of clinics get federal funds? Yup, the ones where the non-insured go. The ones where poor people go. You know what they define abortion as?

Then from the New York Times (there isn't a link in the above article):

The proposal defines abortion as follows: “any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.”

Merkley has also weighed in on this, launching a petition and an Op/Edwith more detail.

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new rule that would force hospitals and clinics to hire people who refuse to provide the full range of reproductive options to women, denying women important health care information and access to basic forms of contraception.

Bush's new rule would deny federal funding to health care institutions that refuse to follow the new rule, limiting health care access when more Americans are struggling with rising health care costs. Further, this rule could allow health care providers, driven by their own personal ideology, to deny emergency contraception to sexual assault victims.

Read all of this twice. Basically, they are attempting to define abortion as almost anything that prevents the possibility of birth. They have no way of defining when, exactly, a woman gets pregnant. There fore it will be an arbitrary decision on the part of healthcare providers, no doubt influenced by their own beliefs. You can't get any closer to overturning Roe v Wade, without actually doing so.And here is the rest of it.

About Me

I am a non-traditional college student working on my graduate degree in Public Administration with an emphasis on nonprofit management. I am a Texas transplant, and absolutely love the Northwest. Although I do not wear rose-colored glasses to see the world around me, I very much recognize and seek out those who believe that change is possible and who want to raise the level of living for all. I believe that community and mutual respect are key for any and all progress, whether local, national, or international. I may someday run for office, and expect to be active in public service for the rest of my life.